Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (p.78-86).

Thesis (M. Ed. (Education)) - Rhodes University, 2007.

Between 1899 and 1910 Sir William Macdonald, tobacco millionaire and educational philanthropist and James W. Robertson, agriculturalist and educator, conducted a seed grain competition across Canada to teach new agricultural practices, and founded manual training centres to teach physical skills and aid moral development. Through the Macdonald Rural School Fund, Macdonald and Robertson established school gardens and supported nature study in eastern Canada, combining with manual training to make a useful elementary curriculum for rural children. To support these pedagogical ideas they pressed, with limited success, for rural school consolidations. Finally, they established an agricultural and teacher training college in connection with McGill University. The Macdonald-Robertson movement drew on borrowed ideas, but also trained teachers, . persuaded school boards, managed costs, and held to a consistent pedagogy through specialized object lessons. Because it treats the Macdonald-Robertson reforms together, this thesis provides a viable explanation why these two men took up the cause of reform and why the various elements of the movement succeeded or failed. I claim the reforms grew up in the first place because the Macdonald-Robertson pedagogical ideas were in the wider interest of social reformers and of the two founders. The ease with which each reform could be controlled by central administrators and implemented in a standard way from one district to the next meant Robertson would achieve "success" on some publicly believable criterion, however variable in extent, yet maintain central control. Robertson found it necessary to dedicate time and energy in persuading local districts and teachers to take up the work. Yet were it not for local autonomy, schools would have been an even easier target for a parade of politically-motivated programmes. Macdonald and Robertson's experience shows that reform must be popular and workable at the local level. Administrative talent and sound pedagogy cannot overcome local resistance if school boards, parents or teachers do not value, or cannot afford, reform. The inherent paradox of standardization and autonomy deserves to remain a hypothesis in research on educational reform. My account shows how Macdonald and Robertson sought to standardize autonomous school districts and teachers, in order to preserve the rural lifestyle, in order to help Canada on her way to economic growth and social order in the face of immigration and urbanization, and the varying extent to which regions benefited economically from industrialization. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

In the last two decades, school gardening programs including interdisciplinary curriculum have been on the rise across the United States and abroad. Many outcomes have been researched related to school gardening programs including children’s academic achievements, socialization through gardening activities, food preference and nutritional outcomes, and environmental impacts. Teachers often carry the greatest weight of responsibility in school gardening programs. While current literature evidences child outcomes by evaluating children, parents, teachers and principles, in this project, teachers specifically were able to identify barriers and concerns before and after teacher training workshops in a pilot program in Atlanta, Georgia and express their levels of experience as indicators of commitment and willingness to implement the program in their classrooms. This research provided an opportunity to assess how well the training addressed perceived barriers to outdoor teaching. Principles of self-­‐efficacy and social cognitive theory were used to guide the development of survey tools in this evaluation. A logic model was created to identify the inputs, activities, short, medium-­‐, and long-­‐term outcomes and overall impact of the Learning Gardens program to be used in program implementation and expansion and to keep goals in sight, providing measurable evaluation steps to monitor progress. Surveys were created to evaluate the efficacy of teacher training and how teachers perceived barriers and self-­‐efficacy during their first year participating in the school gardens program. Surveys were given online and in-­‐person before and after training and after the first year of program participation. Data was collected, analyzed and presented. Curriculum tool kits were prepared for use in the classroom. Results indicated that with training, barriers to teaching outdoors decreased; perceived self-­‐efficacy and thus the drive and motivation to continue forward movement in the Learning Gardens program increased. Once teachers became aware of their goals, and how they would be able to achieve them together, they gained understanding of how the program would be beneficial to their students. These results stress the importance of teacher training and the provision of tools and resources linked directly to standards-­‐based curriculum as critical components in the implementation of successful school garden programming.

In recent decades, environmental problems associated with conventional agriculture, children’s nutrition, and concern over the adequacy of the current food supply have led to the emergence of the sustainable food and food security movements. These issues have also inspired the state of California to pass legislation to place a garden in every school in the state. This thesis analyzes the accuracy of this policy’s implementation and its effects on the sustainable food and food security movements. Research found that the loss of state funding for this policy and the administrative, logistical, and informational barriers to establishing garden education programs has meant that only about a third of California schools have gardens. The gardens that do exist demonstrate excellent benefits in terms of educational and nutritional goals, but only help the sustainable food and food security movements to a limited extent. Suggestions for future improvement include obtaining state funding for the program once more, expanding existing gardens to produce more food and increase the impact on food production issues, and increase informational and technical support for teachers. Nevertheless, the program has been successful at establishing itself and is continuing to grow, thus showing great promise for the future.

Thesis--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 76-94).

The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions middle school students had about agriculture and gardening as part of the GrOW (Gardening and Overall Wellness) Program. This included multiple constructs, including students’ gardening efficacy, perceptions of those who had already completed the GrOW Program, perceptions of those who had not completed the GrOW Program, and students’ future interests in gardening. The population for this study was sixth-grade students at the Partnership Middle School in Starkville, Mississippi. A quantitative instrument was used to assess the perceptions of the students (n = 222). Overall, students had positive perceptions about the GrOW Program. They believed it would help them in being able to assist their families in raising a garden. Students understood that watering and weeding were important in keeping a garden healthy, and they liked being outdoors. Several recommendations for future research were revealed through this study. Surveying other middle schools that also have gardening programs with similar and different demographics would provide a complete evaluation of gardening perceptions. For future studies on this program, having sixth-grade students complete the survey at the beginning and end of the school year would provide a more detailed view of what the students perceptions of the GrOW Program were for that school year. Finally, since students’ views tend to change over time, a longitudinal study to better explain student perceptions of agriculture and gardening. The GrOW program has potential in serving as a model and providing resources for other schools wanting to develop a curriculum-based gardening program.

This ethnographic case study investigates the diverse means and processes by which environmental identities were produced by five first grade students as they participated in an emergent, public school garden space. The children's histories, choices, personal and social experiences, expressions, and corresponding narratives are explored alongside the garden structure and social context to unpack the individualized and layered nature of children's environmental identity and care development. To locate and analyze children's engagements in the garden space, ethnographic, discourse, and narrative analysis methods are employed. The figured world concept is used to theorize and study the caring, environmental identities taken up and enacted by the children in this context. Through participation in emergent provocations, the creation and leveraging of garden artifacts, and investments in caring relationships, the children in this study shaped and cared for the garden space while it simultaneously shaped and cared for them. The environmental identity stories presented in this work broaden the definition of environmental identity to be more inclusive and less normalizing, thus, creating new spaces and moments for children to identify as environmentalists. The stories also raise implications for environmental education researchers to utilize more rigorous frameworks for investigating environmental care and identity development in the field. Findings from this research indicate that emergent garden spaces are potential sites for children to build relationships with nature in the public school. This is a significant practice for schools, as children today lack spaces in which to form environmental identities that implicate environmental care behaviors. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to determine how the Hahn Horticulture Garden at Virginia Tech can best focus their outreach efforts to benefit the local public school community. The study assessed the needs of local science teachers and how their needs can be met through educational outreach programs. A self-administered online survey was used to inquire about the use of experiential teaching methods using school gardens and other outdoor environments. The survey was also intended to determine interest in incorporating supplemental programs into the K-5 Montgomery County Public School curriculum to enhance the Virginia Standards of Learning related to plants and environmental science. The survey was sent to 273 K-5 teachers in the Montgomery County Public School System in Virginia. Because of the small number of responses, the results from the survey were not representative of the population, but were satisfactory to gain practical information for this study. Data analysis indicated existing programs, the need for programs, and how programs can best be implemented. Existing programs consisted of hands-on activities in the classroom including growing plants from seeds and dissecting and observing plant parts. Experiential learning opportunities outside of the classroom included school gardening, observations on the school grounds, and outdoor field trips. Survey respondents indicated a need for supplemental programs related to plants and environmental science. Teachers reported interest in a school gardening program, having a guest speaker in the classroom, receiving curriculum support, and taking their class on a field trip to the Hahn Horticulture Garden at Virginia Tech. Most teachers also showed interest in receiving in-service training to strengthen their knowledge of plants and environmental science. Based on the results of the study, there is a need for supplemental programs related to plants and environmental science. Engaging lessons should be developed to assist teachers with school gardening programs. Experiential learning opportunities such as meaningful field trips should also be developed. Other methods to supplement school curriculum include providing teachers with curriculum materials and lesson kits. All programs developed should correlate to the state-mandated standards. / Master of Science

Manzo Elementary is located in Barrio Hollywood, a low-income neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona. Despite the school's low testing scores and small enrollment, Manzo was recognized as the Best Green School in the nation for 2012 by the U.S. Green Building Council and continues to receive positive media attention. This is because Manzo is thriving in areas of experiential learning and ecological initiatives through the use of its school garden. The school has built sustainability into the core of its curriculum and physical environment, integrating chickens, composting piles, rainwater cisterns, and desert biomes within its courtyards, classrooms and playgrounds. Literature on school gardens suggests that gardens heighten children's sense of place, time spent in the environment, and perceptions of natural areas. However, there is a large gap in the literature which focuses on the use of school gardens as an environmental learning tool, and the ways in which it can appeal and connect children and community partnerships from the perspective of those children involved. The research presented here is an attempt to close that gap by bringing Manzo students into the conversation on school gardens and experiential learning. This study looks at how students perceive their environment, how they are learning and acquiring new environmental knowledge, how they share that knowledge, and the actions and behaviors—both individually and collaboratively—that ensue.